Xiaomi's stock price has surged 101% this year, approaching historical highs, with electric SUVs likely becoming a key driver of future growth

Xiaomi Corporation, listed in Hong Kong, saw its stock price fall about 0.8% this Friday, following the market trend. Although it temporarily departed from the high set on Thursday, the highest level since January 20, 2021, it has surged approximately 101% since the beginning of this year, only 11% away from the closing historical high set on January 5, 2021.

The significant rise in Xiaomi's stock price this year is closely tied to the anticipated prospects of its new electric vehicle business. Xiaomi's first electric vehicle, the SU7, was launched in March this year, with the first deliveries on April 3, achieving impressive sales results.

On April 23, Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun revealed at the Xiaomi Investor Conference that the order volume exceeded 70,000 units, with a delivery target of 100,000 units for this year. In November, Lei Jun stated on Weibo that the SU7 had delivered over 100,000 units, achieving the annual target ahead of schedule and aiming for a new target of 130,000 units. Earlier this month, Xiaomi Auto announced that the SU7 had delivered over 20,000 units for the second consecutive month in November, expressing confidence in achieving the new delivery target of over 130,000 units for the year.

According to Bloomberg, the reason for Xiaomi's stock performance outpacing other global electric vehicle companies this year is due to its unexpectedly rapid rise in the Chinese electric vehicle market, challenging industry leaders BYD and Tesla. Investors hope to see Xiaomi achieve a similar development trajectory as it did with smartphones, growing into a company that can compete with Apple and Samsung within a few years after launching its first smartphone in 2011.

The report mentioned that Shuyan Feng, Deputy General Manager of Investment Management at Huatai Asset Management in Hong Kong, commented that "Xiaomi is a dark horse." When Lei Jun announced the entry into the electric vehicle market and invested $10 billion, the stock price was severely discounted, and few believed that Xiaomi could succeed in such a fiercely competitive electric vehicle industry.

The report also pointed out that Xiaomi may be preparing to launch its next pure electric SUV next summer, which could lead to another surge in stock price. Analyst Steven Tseng from Bloomberg Industry Research is also optimistic about Xiaomi's new model, predicting it could "drive a 137% increase in electric vehicle sales by 2025, as large vehicles are very popular in China, and the production capacity of Xiaomi's second electric vehicle factory will also increase."

The report further predicts that next year, Xiaomi's electric vehicle business may surpass its smartphone business, becoming the company's main sales growth driver.

This Monday, Xiaomi Auto unveiled images of its second electric vehicle model, the first electric SUV YU7, and officially announced that it is expected to launch in June or July next year. Lei Jun stated on Monday that the reason for revealing the YU7 so early is that Xiaomi hopes to remove the heavy camouflage from the test vehicles as soon as possible, which will help the company conduct more comprehensive and detailed long-term large-scale testing to ensure product quality and create better products

On the same day, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the 390th batch of the "Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products," in which Xiaomi's SUV model disclosed detailed parameters for the first time. The public information on the declared model by the Ministry shows that Xiaomi's new product is a new energy vehicle named pure electric multi-purpose passenger vehicle. This new car measures 4999mm in length, 1996mm in width, 1600mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3000mm and a total vehicle weight of 2855 kg. It uses a ternary lithium-ion battery, with a peak power of 220kW/288kW for the drive motor.

Lei Jun stated on Monday that the reason for publicly announcing the YU7 so early is that Xiaomi hopes to remove the heavy camouflage from the YU7 test vehicle as soon as possible, which will help the company conduct more comprehensive and detailed long-term large-scale testing to ensure product quality and create better products.

Wallstreetcn later mentioned that Goldman Sachs' recent report is optimistic about the demand prospects for the YU7, believing that given the strong sales of the SU7 far exceeding expectations, the YU7 has advantages in size, power system, and range compared to similar SUV models, and has the potential to become one of the best-selling high-end new energy SUVs in China. In addition, the shared manufacturing platform between the SU7 and YU7 is expected to improve the gross profit margin of the automotive business